Vegetarian and vegan diets: benefits and drawbacks.
Tian WangAndrius MasedunskasWalter C WillettLuigi FontanaPublished in: European heart journal (2023)
Plant-based diets have become increasingly popular thanks to their purported health benefits and more recently for their positive environmental impact. Prospective studies suggest that consuming vegetarian diets is associated with a reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, hypertension, dementia, and cancer. Data from randomized clinical trials have confirmed a protective effect of vegetarian diets for the prevention of diabetes and reductions in weight, blood pressure, glycosylated haemoglobin and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, but to date, no data are available for cardiovascular event rates and cognitive impairment, and there are very limited data for cancer. Moreover, not all plant-based foods are equally healthy. Unhealthy vegetarian diets poor in specific nutrients (vitamin B12, iron, zinc, and calcium) and/or rich in highly processed and refined foods increase morbidity and mortality. Further mechanistic studies are desirable to understand whether the advantages of healthy, minimally processed vegetarian diets represent an all-or-nothing phenomenon and whether consuming primarily plant-based diets containing small quantities of animal products (e.g. pesco-vegetarian or Mediterranean diets) has beneficial, detrimental, or neutral effects on cardiometabolic health outcomes. Further, mechanistic studies are warranted to enhance our understanding about healthy plant-based food patterns and the biological mechanisms linking dietary factors, CVD, and other metabolic diseases.
Keyphrases
- weight loss
- cardiovascular disease
- blood pressure
- cognitive impairment
- type diabetes
- electronic health record
- papillary thyroid
- glycemic control
- healthcare
- physical activity
- body mass index
- human health
- mental health
- adipose tissue
- heart rate
- young adults
- cardiovascular events
- coronary artery disease
- metabolic syndrome
- skeletal muscle
- deep learning
- health information
- blood glucose